Innovation Credit: Following your application

Assessment

Is your application complete? Then we will get to know each other during an intake interview. During this interview you will have the opportunity to briefly explain your plans and we will ask questions. Based on this information we will assess whether your project fits in with the objectives and criteria of the Innovation Credit. You will receive information from us about the continuation of your application process and we will give you our first impression about your application. If your project appears to fit in the scheme, we will ask you to further develop your application. Next, Innovation Credit advisers of the Netherlands Enterprise Agency and an external advisory committee will assess your application. Both these groups will issue a recommendation. The Netherlands Enterprise Agency will make a decision based on these recommendations.

External advisory committee

The external advisory committee consists of:

• A.W.M. (Guus) Lambregts
  • Education: Mechanical Engineering, Delft University of Technology
  • Work experience: Océ Technologies (R&D until 2008); Technologie Consult (until 2013); Omron (manager R&D, until present)
• J. K. (Jan Karel) Mak
  • Education: Environmental Sciences (MSc), Wageningen University and Research
  • Work experience: including engineering firms Deerns (CEO) and Arcadis (director); McKinsey & Company (consultant); various innovative enterprises in IT, life sciences, environmental/building technology (investor, supervisor)
• Prof. P.H.M. (Hugo) van der Kuy
  • Education: Department of Pharmacy, Utrecht University
  • Work experience: including Erasmus MC (Hospital pharmacist/Clinical Pharmacologist); Pharma Rei (Director); Maastricht UMC+ (Hospital Pharmacist/Clinical Pharmacologist)

Decision

You will receive a letter from the Netherlands Enterprise Agency with the final decision regarding your application 8-16 weeks after submitting your complete application. The project adviser will explain the decision to you on the phone or in person. Your application can be: granted, granted under conditions, or denied. In the event your application is granted (under conditions), you will have to sign a pledge agreement and supply a list of assets. When you have met all the conditions, you will receive the first advance.

Progress

The project budget has been split up into reporting periods. You will create a progress report after each agreed reporting period. Using the 'Progress Report Innovation Credit Model' you will inform us of the progress of your project. The form is in Dutch. You can complete the form in English. In the report you describe the following components:

• Information about the progress of the project, including any costs made during that period.
• Insight into your current expectations about the further progress of your report.
• Update on the project administration and the hours completed for the development programme.
• Information about your financial situation in the form of a current liquidity budget.
• Relevant developments surrounding the market perspective of the innovation and your organisation.
• Changes in the control or shareholder structure. 
• An up-to-date list of assets based on the progress of the project.

We understand that you may encounter unforeseen circumstances in the performance of your project. The Innovation Credit offers flexibility in dealing with these unforeseen circumstances. Based on the report you can decide to adjust the project plan/and or the budget. In the event of profound changes with significant consequences to the chances of success and the outlook of the project, we can temporarily halt the advances. After approval of the modified plans, we will adapt the decision with planning and resume the payment of the advances. We will automatically start the advance payments for the next period after approval of the progress report. We will supply the advances in line with the approved project budget.

Increase

What if the project costs are higher than expected, or you need to adjust your objectives based on new insights during the project? Then you can submit a request for a loan increase. We will assess your request based on the same conditions and criteria as the original Innovation Credit loan. The request will also have to be reassessed by the external advisory committee. The application form for the increase is in Dutch.

• Request for  increase

Determination

After completion of the project, we will sit down with you to look and see whether the set targets have been achieved. In the event that we conclude that the set targets have been achieved, you will be required to submit a determination report within 13 weeks. The Netherlands Enterprise Agency will use this to definitively determine the subsidy amount. In the determination report you will supply an audit report provided by the accountant together with a description of the pledged assets. Please read more on this Dutch page about the audit report.

• Determination report credits model ('Model vaststellingsverslag kredieten', please see below)
• Description of Innovation Credit assets ('Beschrijving van activa Innovatiekrediet', please see below)

Once you have collected all the required documents, you will request a determination of your project. The form is in Dutch.

Request determination

Credit repayment

Once the project is completed you will have to repay the loaned credit amount plus a remuneration. This remuneration consists of a fixed surcharge and accrued interest. The conditions of the Innovation Credit include all information about the remuneration structure. 

The Netherlands Enterprise Agency determines the repayment schedule, based on the supplied forecasts. The money that you repay will then be supplied to other companies with innovative plans. This makes the Innovation Credit a revolving fund. In the event that your project is not successful, the Netherlands Enterprise Agency may be able to temporarily or fully suspend repayments of the approved credit amount.